Welcome to the latest installment of the new
Sharp Eye on Mobile column, which will be published three days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). My goal is to
provide a snapshot of what's happening at Government Plaza along with some insights on the news makers in Mobile.

MOBILE, Alabama – You have to give Mayor Sandy Stimpson
credit for returning from San Antonio, Texas, filled with enthusiasm and
interesting ideas.

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson

As mayor, he's thinking proactive in terms of trying to find
ways to lure investment and – by extension, tax revenues – into the city from
some of its more underutilized assets. He was able to get some of the ideas while brainstorming during the Mayor's Institute on City Design last week.

But you also have to wonder if the mayor should verbally
announce every interesting thought during City Council meetings if there is no
concrete investment or interest from private investors to proceed with them. The
ideas might add some initial intrigue into the minds of the council and public,
but if none of them are ever realized – or don't happen within a couple of
years – will the public eventually tune them out?

Here were three notable ones:

Restaurant at Convention Center. Stimpson said on Monday,
during a roundtable with the local media, and on Tuesday during the council meeting, that
he would like to see some kind of restaurant opened within the Arthur R. Outlaw
Mobile Convention Center. The idea impressed Councilman Joel Daves, who echoed
his interest in wanting to see some sort of restaurant within the convention
center.

One would suspect the mayor wants a nice eatery there, more
Ruth Chris Steak House than Chuck E. Cheese. What do you all think?

Dragon boat races on the Mobile River. The mayor said he
wants to be proactive to drive people to the Cooper Riverside Park along the
waterfront. He then suggested the possibility of hosting the Dragon-Boat Races on
the industrialized Mobile River while utilizing the park as the event's
coordinating post.

So what do you think? Is the mayor taking the right approach in discussing, out loud, some of the possible ideas for downtown Mobile or should he wait until there is more concrete interest in pursuing some of them?

Budget today

Check back at al.com/mobile for a write-up of Mayor Sandy
Stimpson's amended fiscal year 2014 budget, which will be released at 11 a.m.
during a special City Council meeting at Government Plaza.

Stimpson is anticipated to provide an overview of the
amended budget and answer questions from the council.

I will be providing periodic live updates during the
proceeding.

Open house today

Walter Energy will host is a public open house for eight
hours today as they prepare to push for the planning approval of a coal
terminal north of the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley.

The Blue Creek Coal Terminal in Mobile, Ala., has been the subject of much discussion in recent months and the Mobile Planning Commission decided on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, to wait until March 20 before deciding its fate. An open house is scheduled for Thursday, March 13, at The Temple in downtown Mobile, Ala. The session runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

The open house will take place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at The
Temple, 351 St. Francis St.

The company will set up at least 10 different information
stations throughout the facility. Each station will be manned by a specialist
with Walter Energy.

Concerned residents in the downtown area are also requesting
a Q&A with Walter Energy officials around 6 p.m. Walter Energy has not
committed to doing that.

Mobile City Councilman Levon Manzie, in a
letter written on Tuesday, pushed for the company to consider hosting a
one-hour session.